Guest Post: Madjestic Kasual present... MOVE, NOURISH, INSPIRE BELIEF

Announcing a guest mix by the subversive and demiurgic Madjestic Kasual...

"We are Madjestic Kasual.

We’re an audiovisual lifestyle agency operating primarily through YouTube. We want people to eggsperience music in a newer way.

Our current inspiration constellation comprises five ✩stars✩: Malala Yousufzai, Lil B, Kofi Annan, Eckhart Tolle, and Elon Musk. Their auras permeate our every action - and our every sonic dispatch in turn.

This one has three underlying aims: to move, nourish and inspire belief. That’s why we called it “MOVE, NOURISH, INSPIRE BELIEF”. It’s optimised for movement, nourishment and belief inspiration.

So go and do those things and have them done to you."

- Madjestic Kasual

Madjestic Kasual presents...
MOVE, NOURISH, INSPIRE BELIEF:

Quavius - Magic Man
Willow - untitled A2
killavesi - tired of waiting (prod. hi tom)
SpaceGhostPurrp - Alize Music
JJJJOSUE - Dont think (so pink) feat. Gods Wisdom
Wintertime - Bout a Check (prod. Gold & Winter)
d’Eon - Samsung India Software Operations I
Black Kray - Baby Pink
BODYGUARD - Wēnquán (Excerpt 1)
yyu - teu
ANBU - Shawty (prod. Jiri11)
noctilucents - 哀 (prod. Organ Tapes)
Katie Dey - Fake Health
Eckhart Tolle on how to dissolve the Egoic Self through non-identification
Lorna Jane on what’s in her fridge
Visible Cloaks - Terrazzo (ft. Motion Graphics)
Pure X - Rain At Dawn
Ian Isiah - 247 (prod. Sinjin Hawke)

Furious Pig - I Don't Like Your Face

I don't like your face, I don't like-a-like your face, I don't like your face, I don't like-a-like your face, I don't like your face, I don't like-a-like your face, I don't like your face, I don't like-a-like your face, I don't like your face, I don't like-a-like your face, I don't like your face, I don't like-a-like your face, I don't like your face, I don't like-a-like your face, I don't like your face, I don't like-a-like your face, I don't like your face, I don't like-a-like your face, I don't like your face, I don't like-a-like your face.



Label: 
Rough Trade Records
Year: 1981
Genre: Acapella, Punk, Non-Music, Experimental

Guest Post: Pictorial Candi presents Sunday Mood Nr.1 Mix

It's been over two years since the last guest mix was published on this blog (Otis Fodder's "Wordless Vocalizations Mix", March '14), so I'm very excited to share a new mix put together by Candelaria Saenz Valiente (Candi) of Pictorial Candi. The Warsaw-based Argentine has been on the scene for a while, formerly with noise pop outfit Paristetris and presently as Pictorial Candi - the name under which she has recently opened for Deerhoof and R. Stevie Moore. The second Pictorial Candi record was released earlier this year and is home to one of the year's best tracks, the triumphant 'Rhoda'. On this mix Candi takes us on a tour of contemporaries and classics, beginning with German transcendentalists Popol Vuh and ending with DIY queen of southern England Keel Her. Along the way we're treated to tunes by Warsaw group Xenony, Italian singer-songwriter Lucio Battisti and Brazilian duo Gal Costa & Tim Maia.

Pictorial Candi presents...
Sunday Mood Nr.1 Mix:

Popol Vuh - Aguirre Part 1
Keel Her - Roswell
R. Stevie Moore - I See Stars
Ed Wood - Yeti Crab
Xenony - David H (Remix of "Chaos Engine" select screen theme by Richard Joseph)
Com Truise - Sundriped
Macintosh Plus - Lisa Frank 420
U.S. Girls - Navy & Cream
Lucio Battisti - Amarsi Un Po
Gal Costa & Tim Maia - Dia De Domingo
Keel Her - With Me Tonight

Mary Kay Cosmetics - Gentle On My Mind



This is the stuff this blog exists for! I found this incredible CD in Exiled Records in Portland the other day and knew I'd struck gold as soon as I started reading the liner notes. Product Music Vol 1 (the first and seemingly last volume in the 'series') is a compilation of songs from 'industrial musicals', the stage productions put on by corporations to boost morale and sense of team spirit among employees. Limited to a run of only 1000 copies, what the listener of this CD is privileged to is an experience of creepy, capitalism-at-play. Each song is an ode to a company or brand, a hymn of consumption, a song for corporate worship. The whole record is mind-boggling: Who wrote and sang these songs? How did employees react? Were the songs effective? The song featured above is one of the less sinister offerings on the album, a nonetheless eerie piece of showtune muzak, to be looped over a store's PA system until time's end.

Label: Honest-Abe Disc!
Year: 1996
Genre: Consumer Crooner, Easy-Listening, Showtunes, Muzak

I Am Just A Pupil - Family Dollar



I came across I Am Just A Pupil's tape 12 Hours FULL RELAXATION a few weeks ago when my tastes were at an intersection of glitchy, restless electronica and placid, minimalist composition. Described by label 1080p as "New Age / Comedy", the tape weaves together ambient and impressionistic music with chaotic and comedic vocal samples. Album opener is a conversation between a child and Siri, warped by vocal manipulation and set to a soundtrack of new-age pan-flutes. The album's second - and strongest - track is 'Family Dollar', a Satie-esque piece enhanced by samples of what appear to be a domestic argument and a Youtube gun review. I think Hank Hill even makes an appearance. The piece is slowly submerged in reverb, as rounds of bullets are fired and cicadas come to a rest. It is strangely affecting, the beauty of the music juxtaposed by its decontextualised violence. Balanced and thoughtful, the music reaches a sincerity that so much post-modern, web 2.0 music fails to realise. I was, and still am, very taken by this track - by how harmonious its dissonance is and how sensitive it is in its absurdity.

Label: 1080p
Year: 2015
Genre: Ambient, New Age, Electronica, Experimental, Comedy

Alem Kebede - Shemma Tal



I picked up this CD (Akelaletew) in the small and charming Kukulu Market in Edgewater, Chicago last week. The shop had about a dozen different albums stocked under the counter in a glass cabinet, and the shopkeeper guided me through the various titles. He explained to me that younger generations don't have much interest in oldies music and so was pleased and a little surprised when I pointed out the Alemayehu Eshete CD that I wanted to add to my basket. For balance I also bought a Ketema Mekonnen album (traditional music performed on krar) and the Alem Kebede album (a new release by a younger artist) featured here. This song, Shemma Tal, is the album's opener. It kicks off with a synth ostinato that pops up throughout the track and buries itself in the memory of the listener. Synthesised horns weave in and out of Kebede's vocals, themselves treated with a panned delay that makes the melody all the more mind-bending.

Label: Nahom
Year: 2015
Genre: Ethiopian pop

Prum Manh - Two Wives Are Twice The Trouble



Prum Manh is a Cambodian comedian whose act typically involves stand up in the form of conversations with another performer interspersed with musical humour. This recording is included on the Sublime Frequencies release Cambodian Cassette Archives. The following is from the album's liner notes:
"This collection was culled from over 150 ravaged cassettes found in Oakland, California at the Asian branch of the Public Library during the late 1990s and early 2000s... the Public Library's collection of tapes served the local Khmer community during the 1980s and early 1990s. They were found in various stages of disarray and decomposition in a drawer... a considerable amount of audio restoration was required."

Label: Sublime Frequencies (reissue)
Year: 198?, 2004 (reissue)
Genre: Khmer Pop, Rock N Roll

Resonance EXTRA 21/6/16



Last night I was back on Resonance Extra after a two month break. I span tunes from Myanmar, South Africa, Pakistan, Niger, Vietnam and Italy, covering a whole lot of stylistic ground along the way. I started with a live version of an old favourite, Aster Aweke's 'Segno', and ended on a track from Let's Eat Grandma's brand new debut record, released only on Friday. Other highlights included Nedelle Torrisi's raw new track 'Cathartica', The Fore Thoughts' slick rock n roll, Roy & Roe's Hawaiian funk, Maxo's glitched out semi-love song 'Not That Bad', Pastor TL Barrett's powerful gospel and Naked City's rapid, style-a-second 'Speedfreaks'. I also dropped a mix from my parody dance alter ego DJ Kurt Vonnegut.

Resonance EXTRA (21/6/16)
Aster Aweke - Segno (live)
Jake Thackray - Lah Di Dah
Avi Zahner - She's Leaving Home
Irama Trio - Bengawan Solo
Lil Data - Wondercoin Pt. 1
Naked City - Speedfreaks
DJ 光光光 - Beats From... Banaspati
Roy & Roe - Just Don't Come Back
K Leimer - Ceylon
Lewis - Even Rainbows Turn Blue
Phong Thuyet Nguyen - Ly Ngua O
Julian Lynch - North Line
Phong Thuyet Nguyen - Cum Num Cum Niu
~ DJ Kurt Vonnegut ~
Deerhoof - Green Cosmos
Conlon Nancarrow - Study For Player Piano No. 2
三毛猫ホームレス x happy machine - ペパーミント脱走計画
Dux Kidz - Nightspeeder
Zinja Hlungwani - N'wagezani
DJ Rashad - Petrone In My Cup
Perfume - 時の針
Eartheater - Homonyms
Nedelle Torrisi - Cathartica
The Fore Thoughts - Shahbaz Qalander
Kyaw Thet Aung - Min Hnitpar Pwe Taw
Lil Data - Wondercoin Pt. 2
Maxo - Not That Bad (feat. GFOTY)
Hama - Torodi
Unknown - Untitled
Piero Umiliani - Sophisticated Lady
Ludus - My Cherry Is In Sherry
Pastor TL Barrett - Nobody Knows
/please/ - Phantom Fireworks
Let's Eat Grandma - Chimpanzees In Canopies


Rosielou - Tangerine



For the 200th post to be published on this site I thought I would delve into my library and pick out something truly rare and special. A few years ago I came across a Soundcloud page with a half-dozen or so recordings under the title of Rosielou. Looking back I do not remember much, although I do recall that there was almost no information on the page. (I later discovered that she was from the south coast of England, but that is it). The recordings ranged from abstract electronic experiments to (very) low-fidelity and vulnerable folk songs consisting of just voice and acoustic guitar. Rosielou's vocals were hushed to the point of whisper and her instrumental arrangements minimal. There is something about the recordings that I found - and still do find - completely captivating. The songs are vivid and her voice beautiful. But there is something more to it. These recordings feel so lonely and lost. That they are so under-produced and quiet makes them feel vulnerable and temporary. It is apt, then, that at some point in the years since I came across the Soundcloud page, Rosielou deleted her entire online presence. I had messaged her on Soundcloud and even briefly chatted on Facebook, but suddenly, almost suspiciously, she was gone. Before the digital era, it was possible for an artist to record a song to vinyl and for all copies of that record to then disappear. Physical records, by nature, can become obsolete. They can break, be lost, even melt. A song could be recorded only once, to one single physical item. But online, recordings are shared to everyone. They spread, are copied, downloaded, imitated. Online, ownership is not physical, nor is it exclusive. Yet Rosielou's songs, as though they were recorded to single physical copies, have disappeared almost entirely. Almost. In the autumn of 2013 I managed to download a couple of the recordings from Rosielou's Soundcloud page in order to play them on my second ever Resonance FM show. I sent it to her afterwards and she seemed happy. The songs got a great reception from friends of mine, too. Other than the two that I managed to get a hold of and play on my show, all traces of the songs seem to have gone from the internet. It feels weird posting this music to Youtube but, at the same time, it feels weird leaving the music unheard! I hope to hear from Rosielou again, because this music really is wonderful.

Label: n/a
Year: ?
Genre: Folk, Outsider Music

Souleymane Faye - Teylulen



Souleymane Faye is a Senegalese musician, formerly of the internationally successful group Xalam (named after the west African stringed instrument). Xalam actually supported Crosby, Stills & Nash on a European tour... Faye's solo music seems to be a little more low-key. This tune reminds me of something Neway Debebe may have sung. While the whole song is great, I do find myself getting stuck and repeating the 0:19 mark - the initial vocal wail is one of the most stunning intonations I've heard in a long while.

Label: Talla Diagne
Year: 1991
Genre: Pop

The Fore Thoughts - Shahbaz Qalander



First came across this tune on Sublime Frequencies' compilation Pakistan: Folk & Pop Instrumentals 1966-1976. That such series of compilations (Folk & Pop Instrumentals), of which there have been a few, are particularly interesting because they seamlessly draw together the popular (capital P) and more traditional sounds from the chosen country. This track, probably from the early-70s, comes on the back of Beatlemania and rock 'n' roll's globalising effect. Other tunes on the compilation give more explicit nods to British rock - one band is called The Mods. 'Shahbaz Qalander' was written by film composer Sohail Rana.

Label: Columbia Pakistan / Sublime Frequencies (reissue)
Year: 196?/7? / 2011
Genre: Folk, Rock 'n' Roll

Resonance EXTRA 26/4/16


For this week's Resonance Extra show I sought to reflect upon the situation of local sounds within a network of globalisation, neoliberalism and hyperactive information sharing. Well, kinda. Interspersed with the sounds of slot machines, police sirens and dating infomercials, the show places transnational music in an overwhelming world system. Music included: a J-pop/Chicago blues/bubblegum track, hiplife (highlife + hip hop), Icelandic rap, and bible-belt bedroom pop. Other tracks came from the African nations of Zambia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Senegal, while I also span a really spooky French-Canadian tune from Quebec. Towards the end I threw in a bit of Julia Wolfe and Debussy for good measure, before closing with the mind-melting and spastic sound of World's End Girlfriend.

Dig That Treasure EXTRA (26/4/16)
Souleymane Faye - Teylulen
三毛猫ホームレス x happy machine - ペパーミント脱走計画
Lipgloss Twins - Doodle
GKR - Hello
Charles - Call The Cops On Me
??? - Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence Techno Ondo
Mosaic.wav - Falsie the Pseudo-Science Girl
easyFun - Infinity Glisten
Awalom Gebremariam - Desdes
Audrey - Sliding Doors
Tatsuro Yamashita - Touch Me Lightly
Sachiko Nishida - Chin Chin Chidori
5 Revolutions - I Had A Dream
Aldous RH - Sick & Tired
Drew Price's Bermuda Triangle - I Never Have Those (Electric Crash)
Drew Price's Bermuda Triangle - Tropical Hospital
Drew Price's Bermuda Triangle - Bright Castle
Karl Blau - Pain Runnin'
Buk Bak - U 4 Know
Buk Bak - I'm Going 2 Come
Suzanne Jacob - Abitibi
Momus - The Criminal
The Bran Flakes - I Have A Friend
Julia Wolfe - Characteristics
Gablé - Ella
Kenedi Mengesha & Yeshimebet Dubale - Liyish
Isao Tomita - Clair de Lune
World's End Girlfriend - Les Enfants du Paradis


Resonance EXTRA 22/03/16


This episode kicked off with the battering hyper-digital sounds of DJ Warlord and Jib Kidder. Interspersed throughout the episode are the sounds of a Microsoft computer, providing a contrast to the ethnomusicological nature of certain parts of the episode. American gospel blues singer Washington Phillips precedes the upstate New York teacher Nancy Dupree (joined by her elementary school choir) before the episode takes a quick detour to Azerbaijan for a song about Josef Stalin. Other highlights include some sacred harp singers, various Japanese eccentrics (including DTT favourite De De Mouse), the Bulgarian State Radio & Television choir, a cult leader, some 1940s vocoder work, and the new single from London girl group Girl Ray. The episode also features a guest mix from Adam Laurence, exploring everything from French jazz to internet memes.

Dig That Treasure EXTRA (22/3/16)
DJ Warlord - Never Ending War
Jib Kidder - Windowdipper
Washington Phillips - Train Your Child
Washington Phillips - Mother's Last Word To Her Son
Nancy Dupree - Cold
Islam Yusufov - Song About Stalin
Old Harp Singers of Eastern Tennessee - Ocean (No. 159)
Washington Phillips - What Are They Doing In Heaven Today?
Bulgarian State Radio & Television Female Vocal Choir - Kalimankou Denkou
Freedom (Hourya) - Abadane
Girl Ray - I'll Make This Fun
Karen Dalton - Are You Leaving For The County?
~ Adam Laurence guest mix ~
John Carpenter - Here Come The Storms
Murlo - Lanced
Burial - Archangel (Serious Version)
Auntie Flo - Daabi
Scheele - (slay tool)
Jazz Liberatorz - Clin D'oeil
Eddie Harris - Carnival
Lotic - Like A Diamond
A. G. Cook + Oneohtrix Point Never - Bubs
Sri Dawson Gross - At The Grass Roots
Alvino Rey Orchestra - My Buddy
Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou - Homesickness
DJ Katapila - Sakawa
Bullion - Wouldn't It Be Nice
Mariah - 視線
Saeko Suzuki - Hello Shoo Shoo
De De Mouse - Goodbye Parade
Girma Tefera Kassa - Man Neber Yalanci
"Blue" Gene Tyranny - Next Time Might Be Your Time


A Home

Introducing... "A Home", a compilation in aid of the Refugee Council.



Curated by Dig That Treasure!, the compilation features new and exclusive music from thirteen excellent artists. This compilation is a truly DIY project, relying on the charitable efforts of the many artists involved to create a true musical community. The project is running without a budget and is entirely nonprofit. All proceeds are being donated to the Refugee Council (charity no. 1014576) to try and help aid their continued efforts at resettling and supporting those effected by the ongoing refugee crisis.

Full release is due 1st March but you can pre-order the album and enjoy Laetitia Sadier's song now!

Tracklisting:
1. The High Llamas - Citizen
2. Laetitia Sadier - Turn The Other Cheek
3. Boys Age - Cult Pop
4. Adrian Knight - Free Man
5. Capt. Lovelace - Tout Azimut
6. The Bran Flakes - Nonsense
7. The Go! Team - Aerial Station Wagon
8. Julian Lynch - May
9. Steve Sobs - Cold World
10. /please/ - Phantom Fireworks
11. Aldous RH - Sick & Tired
12. Kiran Leonard - His Actions Speak Louder Than Words
13. Ed Askew - Houses At Dawn

Resonance EXTRA 23/02/16


The second Dig That Treasure EXTRA kicked off which a track from composer Anna Meredith's upcoming record Varmints. I then span songs from Senegal, Thailand, Argentina, South Africa, Italy and various other places in between. I featured the debut single by DTT favourites and mid-explosion stars Let's Eat Grandma before dropping TWO premieres from A Home, the forthcoming Dig That Treasure charity compilation. The Go! Team's 'Aerial Station Wagon' was followed by Boys Age's 'Cult Pop'. This is the only place you can hear those two tunes before the 1st March. Listen and enjoy.

Dig That Treasure EXTRA (23/2/16)
Anna Meredith - R-Type
Los Twist - Viendolo
Mariko Fuji - 憂うつな午前5時
Brian Gascoigne & Brian Patten - The Mouse's Invitation
Oswald D'Andrea - Swimming Lotus
Franck Pourcel - Who Can Say
Susumu Yokota - Song Of The Sleeping Forest
Paul Ndlovu - Tsakane
Jlin - Black Diamond
DJ Amps - Stuck on Rhythm
Henrick The Artist - On The Moon
Holly Waxwing - Teva Suite
Linos Wengara Magaya & Gary Cove - Track 07
Mor Thiam - Ayo Ayo Nene
Yelli Fuzzo - Abandé
Infinite Bisous - Life + You
Let's Eat Grandma - Deep Six Textbook
Niwat Charoenmit - Prom Likit
The Go! Team - Aerial Station Wagon
Boys Age - Cult Pop
Diveo - Fairytale Girl
CST Amankwah - Bibiiba
Robert Cacciapaglia & Ann Steel - My Time
L. Pierre - The Kingdom
Popol Vuh - Take The Tension High


Resonance EXTRA 26/1/16


After six months off the air Dig That Treasure! returned reinvigorated, this time on Peter Lanceley's newly launched Resonance EXTRA. The new show is four times as long as the Dig That Treasure! of old (clocking in at two hours) allowing for more focus on curatorial direction and segues. In short: it is better than before.

Dig That Treasure EXTRA (26/1/16)
Kaba Blon - Moribiyassa
"Blue" Gene Tyranny - The CBCD Intro
Mort Garson - Rhapsody in Green
GKR - Morgunmatur
Maria Minerva - The Sound
Mahmoud Ahmed - Abay Mado
Mahmoud Ahmed - Imbwa Belew
Moose Hill - Little Hawaii
Floyd Tillman - I Love You So Much It Hurts Me
Daniel Age 9 - Lonely Shoe
Brigadier General R. Pirngadie - Bahtera Ladju
Brigadier General R. Pirngadie - Pilu
The Evolutionary Jass Band - Lost in the Stars
DJ Warlord - Warlord Loves You
DJ Paypal - Whisper Zone
Nokwazi - Thula Mphikeni
Hosono, Suzuki, Yamashita - Nostalgia of Island
Arto Lindsay - Mulata Fuzarqueira
The Evolutionary Jass Band - 1968
Benoit Widemann - Tsunami
Haruomi Hosono - Sportsmen
Sporting Life - Badd
Graham Kartna - Null 2
David Darling & Wulu Bunun - Pis Lai
James Blackshaw & Lubomyr Melnyk - Tascheter
SF - Endlos


Popol Vuh - Take The Tension High



Blue sky on an extremely cold January afternoon.

Serenity versus study.

Label: Base Record
Year: 1985
Genre: New Age

Graham Kartna - Null 2



"you know how in happy feet they sing songs to each other to find their soul mate? this is my song."
"Its so weird, there is always some music that you havent heard of before that is weird like this"
"I love you so much"
"what you hear when you die"
"I'm about to break the replay button. Sorry peeps... =l"
"What type of music is this?"

Label: self-released
Year: 2015
Genre: Glitch, Experimental, Electronica

MilkCan - Keep Your Head Up



Late last night I somehow found myself browsing through Playstation One soundtracks online. Things got a little weird and I became obsessed with this: a song from a game I've never played (nor even heard of). The game is UmJammer Lammy, a rhythm adventure in which you play along to music by a fictional band called MilkCan. This tune, 'Keep Your Head Up', is completely out-there. It starts off like a pop-punk showtune before spiralling into a psychedelic whirl that sounds like something Van Dyke Parks would have done had he sold-out. It then transitions into a ska tune, all the while our protagonist Lammy wails in a theatrical, out-of-tune kinda way. But it's all so good. Imagine Frank Zappa doing the music for a musical about Reel Big Fish with the witch from Wicked playing lead.

Label: Sony Records
Year: 1999
Genre: Pop-Punk, J-Pop, Psychedelia, Showtune

Review of 2015 pt.2 - Label focus

Label focus

The nature of the 'netlabel' extinguishes the anxiety of financial concern and soulless advertisement from which physical labels suffer. A netlabel can release music as it pleases and, because the label's music and online presence are inextricable, an emphasis is placed on the aesthetic value of the label. Rather than merely being a means for a release to see the light of day, a netlabel's image is a part of its sound, an vice versa. But the act of releasing music freely doesn't signal a lack of quality control. If anything, records are more likely to be released because of their quality, not because they are expected to make money.

Tasty Morsels

Its design is minimal (as is, sometimes, its music) and its releases are free. Tasty Morsels has a beautifully distinctive identity made up of pastel colours, low-key media presence and understated, somewhat spiritual music.


Eleven minute mini-album trees etc. is a divine and peaceful minimalist work. This morsel's ingredients are clarinet, keyboard, and some perfectly placed field recordings. The record progresses seamlessly, more of a continuous piece of music than individual songs.



There is something very vulnerable sounding about 'The Past Tense'; its gentle vocals (bent in pitch on the word 'strong') and understated melody kept from collapse by a keyboard ostinato.

Activia Benz

In contrast with Tasty Morsels' soft spirituality is Activia Benz, a label that is bold and loud. Its Soundcloud page is seemingly infinite library of distorted dance music, ranging from bubblegum pop to trap. The label's graphic design is consistently stunning: each release has its own visual 'set' consisting of perfectly composed and electrically-coloured objects.



Late Ride's 'Swear' centres on a sample from Pink-E-Swear's kinda-mainstream criminally overlooked pop failure 'Swear'. Its bouncy synths and kick drums pitch it in the middle ground between bubblegum pop and juke.



This track is a boy-girl duet about finding love in a fairground. It is almost sickeningly cute but there is something so appealing about it. The lyrics are wordy and sung in a breathless manner, vocalising a hugely catchy, theatrical melody.

PC Music

The much talked about and seemingly confusing, given the misconceptions about it, label PC Music was far and away the greatest musical success of last year for me. Since this time last year the label has evolved massively, signing a deal with Columbia Records in the Autumn of 2015. With its success has come a great influence on underground pop (see Activia Benz, just above!), unsurpirisng considering the label/collective's incredibly distinctive sound (high-pitched vocals, restless synths, big melodies). Still, its releases vary greatly - some are abstract experiments, others are straightforward chart bangers.



Hannah Diamond is PC Music's popstar, the past and future combine. A throwback to the commercial of the 1990s and early 00s but equally so forward-thinking and revolutionary. Her song 'Hi' is to me, like 'Laplander', sad - a song about loneliness! The song's strength lays in its chord progression (there is one particular chord in the chorus that melts me) and in Diamond's non-linear, acrobatic vocals.



Probably my favourite song of the year, easyFun's 'Laplander' is totally deceptive. Journalists and Soundcloud commenters alike label it as happy or fun, but I hear things differently. To me it is crushingly sad. The lyrics read like an argument ("baby if your life's just a love affair count me out", "don't say I didn't warn you in advance") and the song reaches this absolutely breathtaking cathartic climax where it descends and ascends and descends and ascends. The melody is awesome but the emotion takes it to another level.

Review of 2015 pt.1 - Dig That Treasure!

2015 was Dig That Treasure!'s second full year in existence and although things were a little quiet a lot of the time, there was still a lot of excitement... Here's a round-up.

Dig That Treasure!

Following the sell-out success of DTT's first gig promotion in December 2014, I set to work on putting together a couple more shows... First up was Dig That Treasure!'s second birthday celebration on the 19th August, marked by an amazing show at London's Courtyard Theatre. Heading the bill were gleeful Ethiopian group Krar Collective, supported by the awesome Kiran Leonard and Jerkcurb. A few weeks later was an intimate show in the basement of Brighton pub The Globe, where Stephen Steinbrink and Julie Byrne played beautifully to a small - but full - room.

DTT in radio form came to a temporary end in July, but it went down with a bang. The final show was a 'best of', spinning some of my absolute favourites. But the real success of Dig That Treasure! on Resonance in 2015 took place in March with the broadcast of a special thirty minute interview with Ian Parton of my all-time favourite group The Go! Team. We chatted about imagery, sampling and obsessive record collecting, and I span a couple of tracks from their brand new record The Scene Between.

While I published fewer posts on this blog than in both 2013 and '14, a good few posts still found their way into the open. Highlights included Ted Chippington's deadpan 'Feel Like Buddy Holly', Ho Mei Fan's 'China Night' and the saccharine brilliance of Diveo's 'Ferris Wheel' among many many others...

2016 is going to be a big year. Except a return to the airwaves, more blog posts, and a very exciting resurrection of Dig That Treasure! Records.

Love.